Pressing Pause
by zigzagwarbler
Summary: Blaine maybe isn't entirely sure what he's doing, but one thing he does know how to do is take care of Kurt.


Blaine drives them home after leaving Rachel at the bus station. Kurt is quiet, slinking into the seat, arms wrapped around himself.

Neither of them talk. Kurt's lost in a world of his own thoughts and Blaine knows him well enough to know what he needs and words alone is not it. He parks in the Hudson-Hummel driveway and hops out, hurrying around the car before Kurt can say anything and opening Kurt's door for him.

It's silly and entirely unnecessary but it does make a smile flicker across Kurt's mouth and Blaine takes that as a small victory.

"Come on," he says, reaching out, fingers trailing along Kurt's arm and then down to grasp his hand firmly. "Mind if I come in with you?"

The asking is just a formality. If Kurt says no, Blaine will insist.

Kurt squeezes back. "Don't you need to go? See your parents off?"

Blaine's parents are going on a three week vacation in Europe. Blaine had turned down the invitation - if you want to call 'declining' a good word for the angry shouting matches with his dad, but the rare outbursts between them were worth it. Blaine has been working on the assumption that this summer was his last un-interrupted stretch of time with Kurt for the next year and he hadn't been about to give up three weeks of it.

I'll see Europe again. With Kurt,he'd said, flung the words at his dad just to see him stiffen. Blaine's father knows he's gay, accepts that he can't do anything about it without losing his son, but he's far from happy with it. Any mention of Kurt makes him get that dismayed look in his eye that wears at Blaine even though he knows that the reaction could be so much worse than just disappointment. Not every dad is Burt Hummel.

"They're gone already," Blaine says. His mother had slipped into his room that morning to give him a hug goodbye. His father hadn't said a word. "I'm all yours."

He leans forward and brushes his mouth lightly over Kurt's and then steps back. Kurt follows without saying anything, inside the house and upstairs. No one else is home; Blaine images that Burt and Carole are probably out consoling Finn somewhere.

He can't help but feel a little resentful even though he knows they'll be just as gentle to Kurt, that they love him just as much. Kurt is the center of Blaine's world; but Kurt's parents can't be in two places at once.

So he'll just have to make up for it.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Blaine asks, watching Kurt yawn so widely that his jaw lets out a faint crack.

Kurt shakes his head, sitting on his bed. "Not a bit. I just kept thinking..." His voice trails off. "I don't know what I'm doing now."

"Right now," Blaine says, dropping to one knee in front of Kurt. "You're going to let me do this."

Kurt looks surprised and then starts to shake his head before he realizes what Blaine is doing. Blaine lifts up one of Kurt's feet and takes off his boot and his sock, then does the same with the other. When Kurt's feet are bare then he lets his other knee drop to the ground and straightens up, hands on Kurt's thighs. He looks up at Kurt and just smiles, drinking in the sight of his boyfriend.

Blaine is far from celebrating Kurt's rejection letter. He loves Kurt, _loves_ him, and he'd rather handle a year of being apart than a year together when Kurt is miserable. But the NYADA letter is something out of his hands - all he can do is try to make this as easy as possible.

He stands and steps forward into the space between Kurt's legs, an intimate position. Kurt sighs and tips his head back and lets Blaine strip the layers of clothes from him until he's tugging the undershirt over his head and leaving Kurt naked from the waist up.

His eyes stay locked with Kurt's while he undoes Kurt's pants and then makes him stand up to get them off the rest of the way. When Kurt is naked except for his boxer briefs, Blaine pulls down the covers on his bed and pats them. "In."

"It's not even five yet," Kurt protests."I don't even think I could fall asleep."

"So don't. But still get into bed. We'll watch some tv or something."

Kurt seems to decide that isn't such a bad idea. He crawls into bed and Blaine takes his shoes and socks off, sheds his shirt down to the tank he wears underneath, and gets in with Kurt. He grabs the remote from Kurt's bedside table and flips through stations until he finds a Project Runway marathon.

Kurt laughs a little, getting comfortable against Blaine. He rests his head on Blaine's shoulder and Blaine starts to rub his back.

They're not often in bed together like this - almost never. Once or twice, when Blaine's parents were out of town and Kurt told Burt he was staying with Rachel, but running interference for nosy parents gets complicated for other parties involved and after they'd gotten caught once it had been a whole lot harder.

Right now, Blaine wouldn't even care if Burt and Carole both walked in. He doesn't think they'll be up to anything tonight. Right now he just wants to be close to Kurt and hope that he can make Kurt feel better.

Kurt falls asleep twenty minutes into the second episode. Blaine naps, too; he'd known that Kurt hadn't gotten any sleep because he himself had been up most of the night texting with Kurt. He doesn't mean to drift off but the comfort of Kurt's bed and Kurt's body pressed against his lulls him into it.

It's dark outside when Blaine wakes up. He's been asleep for almost two hours.

He gets up and Kurt doesn't stir, so he gets dressed as quietly as he can. He can hear movement downstairs - no voices, none of the loud clomping associated with Finn, but right now that might not mean much.

He heads downstairs trying to quell the butterflies in his stomach that always come with standing in a room alone with his boyfriend's father. He's far too polite to just sneak out, though, so he steels himself and walks into the kitchen. "Mr. Hummel?"

"Hey, kid," Burt says. He's standing in front of a coffee pot looking more than a little tired himself. "Want some coffee?"

"No, sir," Blaine says. "I was just on my way out. Kurt's asleep."

Burt nods, and Blaine's sure he'd looked in on them whenever he'd gotten home.

"Carole took Finn out for some mother-son time. Kid needs it right now. Both of them do." Burt glances upward in the direction of Kurt's room... or maybe it's something else he's thinking of, since he gets that peculiar look of sadness on his face. "I'm not too good at the comforting stuff."

"You do great, sir," Blaine protests. "Kurt... Kurt really values the relationship that he has with you."

Burt smiles, always seeming a little amused at how proper Blaine can sound. "I know he does. But he needs other stuff right stuff."

Blaine just sort of nods, because he's not sure what else to do.

"Your folks are out of town, aren't they?" Burt asks.

Blaine nods. "Yes, sir."

"You can stay, if you want." He sounds astoundingly awkward saying it, but not half as awkward as Blaine feels hearing it. "I think it'd do him some good. Not to wake up alone."

As awkward as it is, Blaine doesn't want to pass up the chance. "Thank you, sir. I... I will."

"Burt. Call me Burt." He's said it a million times, and maybe Blaine will one day but... not any time soon. "I'm taking off tomorrow, but I need to head to the shop to take care of some things after I grab a bite to eat. I called in a pizza order, got some of that pasta stuff Kurt likes, too. It reheats well. Just nuke it some whenever you two get hungry."

"Thanks," Blaine says, aware that this is something Kurt had apparently already thought of. "I'm gonna... go back up."

Burt just smiles. "Thanks, Blaine. Thanks for... being with him. He's a different guy since you two got together. The kind of guy he needed to be."

Blaine doesn't even really know what Burt means by it, but he knows it makes his chest heavy and warm as he takes the stairs back up, slipping back into the room. Kurt is still dead to the world, looking younger than ever with his mouth lax and his hair mussed from the pillow. Blaine strips back down and climbs into bed by him, not tired any more but just wanting to be close in case Kurt needs him.


End file.
